Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 71(Suppl. 2):109-122. 2019 109 doi: 10.26492/gbs71(suppl. 2).2019-09 Flora Graeca on the European continent H.W. Lack Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 6–8, 14195 Berlin, Germany [email protected] ABSTRACT. Flora Graeca is a work in ten folio volumes, published in London between 1806 and 1840. It is based on the botanical collections made by John Sibthorp during his travels in what is now Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Turkey and the pictorial documentation of the plants produced by Ferdinand Bauer. The text was written by James Edward Smith, Robert Brown and John Lindley. Flora Graeca was printed in a tiny edition with the result that many botanists considered it to be non-existent or as only a manuscript. This paper deals with the few copies of Flora Graeca kept today in libraries on the European continent and their historical backgrounds – three in Paris, one in Vienna and Darmstadt respectively, all apparently subscription copies, while the copies in St. Petersburg and Copenhagen were previously owned by Fredrick North, 5th Earl of Guildford, and John Platt. The botanical affiliations of the previous owners, among them Franz I, Emperor of Austria, and Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Hesse, are explained. The libraries on the European continent that have copies of the so-called Bohn reissue of Flora Graeca are listed. Particular attention is given to the Belgrade copy, a hybrid consisting of printed title matter with some of the landscapes copied by hand and the 966 engravings, whereas all text pages, indices and appendices have been written on a type writer. Keywords. Copenhagen copy, Darmstadt copy, Flora Graeca, history of plant taxonomy, Paris copies, St. Petersburg copy, Vienna copy. Introduction When David Mabberley and I met for the first time in August 1983 in Berlin, which was then still infamous for its wall, one of our topics of conversation was the natural history illustrator Ferdinand Bauer (1760–1826). Among many other works, he had produced the 966 watercolours depicting plants which were later published as coloured copper engravings in the exceedingly rare Flora Graeca. Several more meetings followed in Oxford, Kew and elsewhere and many letters were exchanged, which were then still on paper, resulting, after many problems and delays, in the monograph The Flora Graeca Story: Sibthorp, Bauer and Hawkins in the Levant, published by Oxford University Press in 1998 (Lack & Mabberley, 1999). Over the following years an exhibition on this subject was organised in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Lack, 1999), and further studies appeared on this subject (e.g. Harris, 2007) culminating in four more books — two dealing with the life and work of Ferdinand (Mabberley, 1999, 2017), one with the life and work of his elder brother Franz (1758–1840) (Lack, 2008), and one more comprehensive account of the lives and works of the Bauer brothers, i.e. Joseph 110 Gard. Bull. Singapore 71 (Suppl. 2) 2019 (1756–1831), Franz and Ferdinand, setting them and their numerous productions into the context of their time (Lack, 2016). What was written in these publications on the Flora Graeca project was almost exclusively based on the archival material conserved in Oxford and the copies of the Flora Graeca kept in England. This paper does not paraphrase these earlier findings, nor does it add to them, but it analyses the very few copies of this work kept on the European continent and their varied historical backgrounds. Among these, the copies conserved in Vienna and Copenhagen were of particular importance for the history of the botanical exploration of what is now Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Turkey — regions which in the late eighteenth century by and large belonged to the Ottoman Empire. The following brief outline is mainly based on The Flora Graeca Story (see above). Flora Graeca Flora Graeca is a work in ten folio volumes, published in London between 1806 and 1840 in a total of twenty instalments. Each volume contains title matter (i.e. title page and frontispiece), text and one hundred coloured copper engravings (with the exception of the last volume which has only 66), with indices, appendices, etc. also placed in the final volume. Contrary to our modern concept of a Flora, Flora Graeca does not deal in a comprehensive way with the plant life of the study area, but only with a selection of it — c. 1000 plant species, all observed in the field by John Sibthorp (1758–1796), third Sherardian Professor of botany at Oxford University, in the years 1786–1787 and 1794–1795, including those recorded as pencil drawings by Ferdinand Bauer in 1786–1787. Working in Oxford, Bauer produced a pictorial documentation for the project between 1788 and 1794, including seven frontispieces which served as the basis for the production of the copper engravings (Lack, 1997). Sibthorp, meanwhile, had made no progress with the text for his intended Flora. In his carefully worded, though very unconventional will, Sibthorp left lands in Sutton manor in the county of Oxford to his alma mater Oxford University for the endowment of a chair — but under the condition that the proceeds were first used for a precursor, the Prodromus Florae Graecae, and then for the Flora Graeca, to be published based on the collected materials. Considering the very substantial sums involved, Oxford University accepted the arrangement, but had to wait for 44 years until money was eventually available for the chair. Two facts were of decisive importance for Flora Graeca: firstly, Sibthorp’s stipulation that the work was ‘to consist of ten Folio Volumes each Volume to consist of one Hundred Plates … & I do request of my Executors to find out & nominate some Person well skilled in Botany & Natural History for that Purpose & under whose direction the Plates may be engraved & coloured from the Drawings & MS Notes’ and, secondly, by Sibthorp’s careful choice of his co-executors — John Hawkins (1761–1841), his former travel companion who was to become the organiser of the foundation, Thomas Platt (d. 1842), a prominent solicitor, who would act as administrator of the foundation, and John Wenman (1745– 1796), Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford University. Flora Graeca on the European continent 111 The co-executors clearly subscribed to the rigid adherence to Sibthorp’s will and the highest quality of the end product, which meant searching for a competent botanist who they found firstly in James Edward Smith (1759–1828), after his death to be followed briefly by Robert Brown (1773–1858), and finally John Lindley (1799– 1865). The latter’s contribution to Flora Graeca has been admirably analysed by Stearn (1999). In addition, the co-executors had to look for a qualified company capable of engraving the 966 copper plates (plus those for the frontispieces), to produce the prints and have them coloured — an immense labour. They recruited James Sowerby (1757– 1822), later followed by other members of his family to do this job (Henderson, 2015). Last but not least, printers for the text had to be found. All this ensured the particularly high profile of literally every aspect of theFlora Graeca. However, no attempt is made here to analyse again what has already been written on the exceedingly high quality of text and illustrations. However, there was a major financial problem: the proceeds from the Sutton manor were rather too small for Sibthorp’s gigantic project, so that Flora Graeca could only be offered on the basis of a subscription, i.e. money from the subscribers had to be added to the funds from the estate to make the production of the great work possible. Right from the beginning the subscription cost was extravagant, which quite naturally reduced the number of potential buyers to the inner circle of the very rich. The lists of subscribers Two lists of subscribers have survived — one for the fifth fascicle with the following names: ‘[1] Sir J. Banks, [2] Lord Visc. Milton, [3] Col. Sibthorp, [4] J. Hawkins, Esq., [5] Platt, Esq. [6] A. B. Lambert, Esq., [7] Earl Spencer, [8] G. Hibbert, Esq. [9] Earl of Dartmouth, [10] Marquis of Stafford, [11] Prof. Martyn, [12] Mis Sherbrooke, [13] Earl of Bridgewater, [14] Sir M. Cholmeley, [15] Rev. J. Brie, [16] Lord Guildford, [17] Marquess of Bath, [18] Radcliffe Library, [19–21] M. Artaria 3 copies, [22] Sir J. E. Smith?, [23–29] foreign purchasers, [30] Trin. Coll. Library, [31] All Souls, [32] Univ. Cambridge’, and a second list entitled ‘Messrs Payne and Foss’s distribution of the twenty-five perfect copies of the Flora graeca. Folio. — 1. Earl FitzWilliam. — 2. J. Hawkins Esq.re. — 3. Thomas Platt Esq.re. — 4. Earl Spencer. — 5. Geo: Hibbert Esq.re. — 6. Earl of Dartmouth. — 7. Marquis of Bath. — 8. Duke of Sutherland. — 9. Mr. Sowerby. — 10. Rev.d T. Bell. — 11. Mr. Bohn, Henrietta street. — 12–14. Messr. Artaria & Fontain, Manheim, 3 copies. — 15. Messr. Deighton, Cambridge for the University Library. — 16. H. Holland Esq.re. — 17.–19. Mr. Parker, Oxford for Radcliffe Bodleian and Botanical Libraries. — 20. Mr. Rich. Red Lion square. — 21.– 25. Horticultural soc.–Linnean soc.–British museum, London–The Bodleian Library, and the Botanic garden, Oxford (5 copies). Delessert France Grand Duke’ (Lack & Mabberley, 1999). From the second list, only the following subscribers are relevant in our context: Messr. Artaria & Fontain, Mannheim (3 copies), [Benjamin] Delessert, Grand Duke, i.e. Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Thomas Platt and, from the first list, Lord Guildford. 112 Gard. Bull. Singapore 71 (Suppl. 2) 2019 The tiny number of copies produced resulted in a simple fact, very appropriately worded by the great bibliographer Georg August Pritzel (1814–1874) ‘Das Werk [die Flora Graeca] ist von vielen Botanikern als gar nicht existent oder als Manuskript betrachtet worden’ [The work [the Flora Graeca] was regarded by many botanists as non-existent or as a manuscript] (Pritzel, 1847a).